1. One possibility is that there's no guarantee for the order of the CLEAR STAT and the ADD STAT calls in your skill. That might explain random behavior. In order to guarantee CLEAR STAT comes first, put it in an EVENT_START block. If you don't want to do that (because the spell is cancellable, interruptible, whatever), then you can get a probabilistic guarantee that the CLEAR STAT will come first by adjusting the timeline in layout so that the unit spawner doesn't flip on for at least 100ms or so. If I remember correctly, EVENT_TRIGGER blocks are executed in order, so you could also use two separate EVENT_TRIGGER blocks to enforce the call order. (Aside: I always use SET STAT rather than CLEAR STAT so that I'm 100% confident of what my stat is getting set to.)

2. Another possibility is maybe you're using an animation that pops the trigger twice? Try setting the EVENT_TRIGGER block containing your layout to <BOOL>CAN_CLONE:0

3. Is the damage shape in the pet skill looping? Is the timeline?

4. Aside: I've encountered lots of outright buggy behavior doing stat manipulation in an EFFECTS block. Sometimes doing the exact same thing in an AFFIXES block fixes the problem. No idea why.

5. Aside: Same deal with doing stat manipulation in an EVENT_END block. In fact, I have never -- not even once -- got a stat manipulation to work properly in an EVENT_END block. Again, sometimes the exact same thing will work if it's moved to a different kind of block. In this case, I think that part of the problem (but maybe not the whole problem) is due to the fact that skills seem to have an unmodifiable minimum running time that makes the EVENT_END come a lot later than you'd think it should.

6. Totally unrelated to your problem, but needed for your skill: The pet skill should use FORCE_OWNER as the target type for the effects. The major reason for this is to make it work right in multiplayer. You don't want to go around incrementing other player's pet counters. A secondary reason is that it allows you to not have to use a damage shape, which helps performance and avoids any possibility of mucking up the layout.

7. Aside: You're going to need something to decrement the counter when the pets die. But you probably already knew that.

By adding the affix, the console log shows that the COUNT affix (cast from the pet spell) is being applied twice. Even adding the CAN_CLONE to the EVENT_START does not help. It may simply be an issue with a spell that has no animation that is NORMAL activation. I'll try making it a PASSIVE or giving it an animation and see if I have better luck.

I believe there should be some way to get the general control flow you're working on to work. Even if you're ready to throw in the towel on this plan, there's at least two more ways to do this:

1. Have the summon skill increment the counter directly, so you only need to manage decrements from the pets dying.

2. Make a looping skill that counts the pets periodically.

Quote

        [EVENT_END]
            <STRING>FILE:media/skills/druid/count_summons/counterdmgshape.layout
            <BOOL>PLACEONTARGET:1
            <BOOL>DAMAGESHAPES_HIT_ONCE:1
            <BOOL>APPLYEFFECTS:1

Try deleting this line.

Iirc, <Bool>ApplyEffects causes an Event class to apply its effects to its target independently of a damage shape.  Using a damage shape in conjunction with this variable has given me instances in the past where I had doubly applied Affixes and Effects.  It shouldn't affect the number of creatures summoned, however.

Bet that's it. I'm kicking myself for not seeing that one.